Hunter WR Challenge Mode video compilation

Hey there,

I'm Saved and I play a Hunter as my main now for Aftermath on U.S Mal'ganis. We're currently putting a bit of time into getting as fast of times as possible and so far we hold 5 of the 9 top times, with an eventual goal of holding the fastest time for all 9/9.

While I always stream our raids (including progression), I stream all our challenge modes, too, and have highlights so far of a lot of the Challenge Modes including all of the WR Challenge Modes that I have been in for.

I will update this post if people are interested when we complete more. We will probably be doing Mogu'shun Palace sometime soon, and from our conversations in Mumble, we seem to think we could significantly improve our time in Scholomance. I was not home when they did it the first time, but hopefully I'll be home when we do it next! We probably won't go back to re-claim our times until we have completed our time goals in all 9/9 instances though, and I'll constantly update this post with new updated times.

If anyone is interested, I was also considering making a video for each with specific tips / tricks that I felt really helped me out, or things you could suggest in your Challenge Mode group to help your Challenge Mode group succeed

Non-WR runs - Not attempting to go for fast times, just trying to help friends get their transmog gear.

I'm Saved and I play a Hunter as my main now for Aftermath on U.S Mal'ganis. We're currently putting a bit of time into getting as fast of times as possible and so far we hold 5 of the 9 top times, with an eventual goal of holding the fastest time for all 9/9.

While I always stream our raids (including progression), I stream all our challenge modes, too, and have highlights so far of a lot of the Challenge Modes including all of the WR Challenge Modes that I have been in for.

I will update this post if people are interested when we complete more. We will probably be doing Gate of the Setting Sun sometime soon, and from our conversations in Mumble, we seem to think we could significantly improve our time in Scholomance. I was not home when they did it the first time, but hopefully I'll be home when we do it next!

If anyone is interested, I was also considering making a video for each with specific tips / tricks that I felt really helped me out, or things you could suggest in your Challenge Mode group to help your Challenge Mode group succeed

Non-WR runs - Not attempting to go for fast times, just trying to help friends get their transmog gear.

I recently looked at times, cause my group was thinking about doing challenge modes again, after we got our gear (With another setup/preparation). I saw your group, and noticed you are running with some of the things I would like to do.

I know this is the hunter forum, but as you didn't seem to make it hunter only, I have a few questions.

You believe mage/hunter/dk is the best dps setup, because of the AoE caps?

Why do you use a rshaman healer? We are using a mistweaver, and while they seem weak, our mistweaver might use his rdruid alt (Great cds, and utility via symbiosis and stampede).

Which tank? We can bring either a warrior or a dk, which leaning towards the DK.

I know setup depends on challenge mode, but in general what you feel is the strongest, as we want a solid setup. We are going ret/hunter/ele/mist/blood atm, and while it can def work, we seem to lack some things once in a while

Also, for real solid times, do you recommend all getting eng, and not using invis pots, as that is a long cd on pots ?

Well, if you look at our top times, or top times that Aftermath has posted, we have used a large array of DPS and the times we're posting can probably be done with an interchange of any classes (almost). Survival Hunters are very, very good and a Frost DK is exceptional as well with offensive and defensive use of Army. Mage can be changed out for a Warlock IMO, but in the end it doesn't really matter.

It isn't necessarily for the AoE that I find our composition works well; it's the entire package that each brings to the party and why I personally really like the DK/DK/Hunter/Mage/Shaman composition. It just so happens that this is a composition that offers us the entire package plus being probably one of the best aoe compositions you can get.

It just so happens that we have 2 or 3 shaman healers (2 of them alts) interested in Challenge Modes, so they come a lot. We will use pretty much any healer though, and only stick to a Shaman if we don't have a mage, or if it isn't possible for me to go BM to Lust without costing us time.

DK tanks are king IMO for challenge modes, though Monks have some nice DPS, too. I highly prefer DKs, and tanking them on my warrior is just not fun at all.

Strongest imo is DK tank, DK DPS, Surv/BM Hunter, and either a Mage or a Warlock for the last DPS spot. Healer can be interchanged fairly easily, but Resto Shamans offer the ability to swap to Elemental, and Priests offer the same.

Well, if you look at our top times, or top times that Aftermath has posted, we have used a large array of DPS and the times we're posting can probably be done with an interchange of any classes (almost). Survival Hunters are very, very good and a Frost DK is exceptional as well with offensive and defensive use of Army. Mage can be changed out for a Warlock IMO, but in the end it doesn't really matter.

It isn't necessarily for the AoE that I find our composition works well; it's the entire package that each brings to the party and why I personally really like the DK/DK/Hunter/Mage/Shaman composition. It just so happens that this is a composition that offers us the entire package plus being probably one of the best aoe compositions you can get.

It just so happens that we have 2 or 3 shaman healers (2 of them alts) interested in Challenge Modes, so they come a lot. We will use pretty much any healer though, and only stick to a Shaman if we don't have a mage, or if it isn't possible for me to go BM to Lust without costing us time.

DK tanks are king IMO for challenge modes, though Monks have some nice DPS, too. I highly prefer DKs, and tanking them on my warrior is just not fun at all.

Strongest imo is DK tank, DK DPS, Surv/BM Hunter, and either a Mage or a Warlock for the last DPS spot. Healer can be interchanged fairly easily, but Resto Shamans offer the ability to swap to Elemental, and Priests offer the same.

I guess a rdruid could spec boomkin too, and yeah. It is mostly cause we might run with a ele shaman, so having that solar beam seems really clutch. But I might be wrong tho I also think stampede during invis is clutch, and 2-3 stampedes offers a great deal of speed on many downtime periods in Challenge Modes.

I guess a rdruid could spec boomkin too, and yeah. It is mostly cause we might run with a ele shaman, so having that solar beam seems really clutch. But I might be wrong tho I also think stampede during invis is clutch, and 2-3 stampedes offers a great deal of speed on many downtime periods in Challenge Modes.

Well, stuff dies so fast with even a DK and a Hunter that the last spot is pretty interchangeable. It just depends on whether you're trying for golds.. and maybe half decent times, or top in the world times.

Best professions for CMs are probably Eng/LW. Eng for the glove tinker and LW for 100% uptime on speed drums. Druids are nice but not really needed for the roar; anything a druid roar be used to skip, aspect of the pack can do, too, if you're creative with how you do it (i.e see Shado-Pan Monastery, didn't even need aspect of the pack)

Solar Beam is really OP btw. I think the only way we could top our Temple of the Jade Serpent time would be to swap out the Frost DK for a Druid.

Well, stuff dies so fast with even a DK and a Hunter that the last spot is pretty interchangeable. It just depends on whether you're trying for golds.. and maybe half decent times, or top in the world times.

Best professions for CMs are probably Eng/LW. Eng for the glove tinker and LW for 100% uptime on speed drums. Druids are nice but not really needed for the roar; anything a druid roar be used to skip, aspect of the pack can do, too, if you're creative with how you do it (i.e see Shado-Pan Monastery, didn't even need aspect of the pack)

Solar Beam is really OP btw. I think the only way we could top our Temple of the Jade Serpent time would be to swap out the Frost DK for a Druid.

Idd, thats what I am thinking. For insanely large pulls I think DK/hunters is better, but I think we can get realm first times with a ele shaman. They are very bursty, which is helpful in alot of situasions.

Any other advice? Like, I saw the guys with the 8:41 MP they used the Amberrod, and also used Invis from Eng to bypass the mobs - and still have pots (pre/normal) for bosses etc.

Idd, thats what I am thinking. For insanely large pulls I think DK/hunters is better, but I think we can get realm first times with a ele shaman. They are very bursty, which is helpful in alot of situasions.

Any other advice? Like, I saw the guys with the 8:41 MP they used the Amberrod, and also used Invis from Eng to bypass the mobs - and still have pots (pre/normal) for bosses etc.

We haven't put any attempts into Mogu'shun Palace but there is a few things that I know of. 1) The amber rods aren't necessary 2) The strategy we will use for Mogu'shun is probably close to the strategy used in the video I linked. We killed 2 extra pack of adds, and we went in with a composition that is not very good for the run. The entire reason we did the run was to help a few guild members get gold so it was their first time seeing the challenge mode.

Composition for that instance is probably DK/DK/Hunter/Mage/Shaman. That last pack of adds that some group amber shaped is leashed if you go far enough into the room. We did not do that in the video, and we knew it was supposed to leash but we didn't know how far we had to go. We tested it on a previous run.

That one is a time where 2 big trash pack pulls need to die fast and the faster they die, the better your time will be if you have half decent times elsewhere in the instance. Whichever class you feel will help you shave time off those packs A mage is pretty valuable for doing the job that I did in Mogu'shun Palace, though, and it is probably the best class for that anyways.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 04:57 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Yavania

already use your guides for challenge modes help a lot.

Thanks! I was intending on making videos like those once we're done with our current project of 9/9 top times. I figured a video from one of the strongest CM classes with the best times giving all of the little tips and tricks he found out would be pretty popular, but who knows.

We haven't put any attempts into Mogu'shun Palace but there is a few things that I know of. 1) The amber rods aren't necessary 2) The strategy we will use for Mogu'shun is probably close to the strategy used in the video I linked. We killed 2 extra pack of adds, and we went in with a composition that is not very good for the run. The entire reason we did the run was to help a few guild members get gold so it was their first time seeing the challenge mode.

Composition for that instance is probably DK/DK/Hunter/Mage/Shaman. That last pack of adds that some group amber shaped is leashed if you go far enough into the room. We did not do that in the video, and we knew it was supposed to leash but we didn't know how far we had to go. We tested it on a previous run.

That one is a time where 2 big trash pack pulls need to die fast and the faster they die, the better your time will be if you have half decent times elsewhere in the instance. Whichever class you feel will help you shave time off those packs A mage is pretty valuable for doing the job that I did in Mogu'shun Palace, though, and it is probably the best class for that anyways.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 04:57 PM ----------

Thanks! I was intending on making videos like those once we're done with our current project of 9/9 top times. I figured a video from one of the strongest CM classes with the best times giving all of the little tips and tricks he found out would be pretty popular, but who knows.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 04:58 PM ----------

Thanks much!

will have to put links to the guide for hunters in CM if you make one :P

I definitely will update with them I've been asked quite a bit over the past few months about little tricks and while there's not much other than just good play, it's always good to be able to get advice from someone who has already done it all.

I was supposed to maybe do challenge modes tonight after my alt 10 man raid but my character was locked because of a race change and it wouldn't let me log in until I ticketed a GM. Got my character back now, but it's 3:22 am.

Blood Death Knight
Discipline Priest (you can go shadow during a lot of parts of the CM's which we did).
Elemental Shaman
Assasination Rogue / Frost Death Knight
Survival Hunter

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The only thing a hunter really needs to do well is aoe nuke hard, the rest is just using invis pots at right time and not pulling more than your tank can handle. Challenge modes depend a lot on your healer and tank, so pick a good one, your results heavily depend on their skills.

That's a good question. I've explored the potential benefits of having a specific gear set and while I agree that there is, we haven't yet gotten to a point where it would allow us to significantly beat our own times, or beat others. You can bet your bottom dollar that if one of our times is beaten and we can't reclaim it, or if we can't match another time, that this is an avenue that we (or I) would go down.

---------- Post added 2012-12-31 at 02:54 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Hikashuri

The only thing a hunter really needs to do well is aoe nuke hard, the rest is just using invis pots at right time and not pulling more than your tank can handle. Challenge modes depend a lot on your healer and tank, so pick a good one, your results heavily depend on their skills.

Well, as per your suggested set up, that's your opinion but I disagree and would personally rather use the set ups that we have been using. In regards to Hunter's in CM, the exact same can be said for almost any class. There's a significant difference in what compositions and potential strategies you can use when you are going for the fastest of the fastest times and when you're going for just Gold, though, and that's when the difference in composition makes a difference. Take Scarlet Halls for example; I do not see how we could actually pull anymore and rather than pull what our tank can reasonably handle, we pull what we know will get us the fastest time and work out the rest to give us the best chance of success. It's usually not advisable to pull 2 trash packs + a boss at once, let alone do it twice within 3 minutes.

I have watched your stream and what i can say, you just play brilliant on those challanges and you ui is just awsome.
I would like to ask you, what addons are you using to track those trinkets with icd and uptime.

Please upload more challenges, it is a great source of information for us, as we are starting to play challanges aiming for gold medals.

I have watched your stream and what i can say, you just play brilliant on those challanges and you ui is just awsome.
I would like to ask you, what addons are you using to track those trinkets with icd and uptime.

Please upload more challenges, it is a great source of information for us, as we are starting to play challanges aiming for gold medals.

Keep up good work with streams.

Thanks for the great feedback! My UI is pretty much fully customized for my own game play with a very comprehensive list of WeakAuras to do pretty much everything from ICD, uptimes, Focus bars (I have like.. 9 different focus bars that are shown depending on my spec and target health, i.e Careful Aim phase for MM, KS range etc). I used to have a link in my description on my twitch page with a link to my WeakAuras but for some reason there was one set of auras that wouldn't import properly so I took it down as it was a lot of effort to troubleshoot everyone asking for them. I tried again earlier today for someone and if it works for them, I will post my auras for people.

I hope to be streaming some CM's soon for those interested, probably tomorrow New Year and all so it is hard to get people to do them.

I think I have 6/9 uploaded from my PoV and once I manage to all 9/9 done from my PoV, I will start thinking about making some guides from a Hunter PoV.

I gotta say, that's some impressive play from you and your entire group, and also, your setup is close to perfect

Not sure if you do this already, but one thing that I noticed was extremely good (and I can only imagining it being better with a dk tank) is having the shaman go elemental on the fights where you can skip a phase or w/e with simply having a lot of burst/dps, or just simply a fight without a lot of raid damage. Such as 2nd to last boss in Scholomans where you wont have to dps the other "boss", or the last boss in Gate of setting sun where you want to kill the weak spot in as few goes as possible.

Will definitely try out some of these things when we decide to try and re-claim our non-server first times again

Like the guide videos a lot.. thanks! (not sure if you were apart of them lol). I've been putting up all my gold challenge modes on my youtube channel as well. :P

But question, for the most part SV is the main spec for all challenge modes. Would you say, with the buff to SS, that at ilevel 463.. SV is just better overall, even single target. I've found this to be true, at least for me.